A Thousand Paper Cranes
by Gunpowder Cookies
Summary: Paper is flimsy. It burns, it tears easily. And for some reason, she's entrusting it with her hopes and dreams. Lyvia.


**AN: My entry for the first round of the Fairy Tail writing challenge. I'm a huge Gruvia fan, but Lyvia is adorable. I can't say I'm too proud of this one, but it's better than nothing.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or Mrs. Hope Estheim. Seriously. Ask her. I don't.**_

* * *

**~ A Thousand Paper Cranes ~**

Late August in Magnolia was always warm, but never this hot. The sun was beaming at its full strength, basking the city in an almost constant glow. Whilst sunshine was always appreciated, this was extreme for the tail end of the season.

Despite this warm weather, mages of Fairy Tail would often spare glances at the sky, eyes scanning for even the slightest wisp of a cloud. With shocking consistency they found nothing but a great expanse of cerulean blue. But that stopped none of them from carrying umbrellas wherever they went.

This cheerful sun struck Lyon instantly the moment he was out of the train station. At first he had presumed that it was just the station's temperature, warm and dusty, but outside it was almost tropical, the heat close to being completely unbearable.

The reason for his visit was a girl whom he had expected to be causing the exact opposite.

* * *

"_Gray's gone."_

"_Eh? You mean that Fairy Tail ice mage?" Chelia inquired, standing on tip toes to try and peek over Lyon's shoulder at the letter he was holding. He casually passed it to her and several other members flocked to read. Sherry looked at her friend in concern- despite her recent engagement, she would always be somewhat fond of him and she couldn't help but worry at hearing this news._

"_You okay?"_

"_Eh." Was the vague reply that Lyon gave her, kicking his legs up on the table (a risky move, since Ooba would probably rip them off if she caught him). "Let's just hope it's not another seven year thing. He says it's only for a few weeks but knowing that idiot, he'll be gone a millennia."_

_The nonchalance in his voice was painfully fake._

"_Why did he go?"_

_Lyon shrugged. "All he said was that he's taking some time out. And he asked me to look after Juvia for him."_

* * *

Thanks to some helpful direction, it didn't take long for him to find the water mage in her dormitory room. She didn't notice him at first, much too busy diligently folding and creasing whilst humming a cheery little song. One would presume that, due to Gray's absence, she would be an emotional wreck, yet she seemed perfectly tranquil . She was in a light sundress, her blue curls in pigtails- it would be easy to assume that she was perfectly fine.

"What are you making?"

She jumped, turning her head to see him standing in the doorway before relaxing. Scrambling to her feet, she hopped over all the mess, making her way to the one spot where you could actually see the floor. "L-Lyon! Juvia didn't know you were coming."

Did Juvia have any idea of just how adorable she looked at that moment? It made Lyon blush furiously. "G-Gray asked me to take care of you."

Judging by her momentary lax, her crestfallen expression, he had said the wrong thing. But then she perked up again. "Of course! Wait a minute, Juvia will clear some space."

She made her way over to the table, kicking mess out of the way. On closer inspection it was paper – some plain white sheets, others pastel coloured or even patterned. Some had been made to look like birds: what was the name again? Korigame? Whatever it was, the room was filled with papery chaos. Juvia cleared some floral patterned sheets off the small table and a few more from the chairs before offering that he sit down.

"Do you have somewhere to stay?"

"I've booked a hotel."

Juvia bit her lip. "That's not fair. Juvia can help pay if you want."

"Nah, it's fine. Something tells me that Gray wouldn't be happy." He replied, waving a hand dismissively. Once again, the mention of Gray's name brought on a temporary moment of weakness before she managed to restore her sunny demeanour, so he quickly changed the topic. "What are you making?"

"Origami cranes. It's a new hobby."

He thought before answering. "I heard somewhere that if you make a thousand-"

"Your greatest wish will come true. Or so it's said."

Suddenly, it began to look less like a hobby and more like a desperate attempt at happiness. Lyon was never one to choose his words carefully, as had been demonstrated many a time in the last ten minutes. So he was cautious with his next sentence. "How many have you made so far?"

"One hundred and seventy-four," She replied. "It's what Juvia does to pass time when not at the guild."

"Need help?"

Her smile was, for the first time, completely genuine.

* * *

First things first, they spent day one tidying the room. All of Juvia's one hundred and seventy-four paper cranes were suspended by strings from the ceiling, swaying in whatever slight summer breeze passed.

At first, making those damnable paper-and-pain abominations was nigh impossible. But after five examples and at least three failures, Lyon got the hang of it. They all ended up looking different and disproportionate, but as far as Juvia was concerned anything went.

They approximated it would take less than a week. They could have worked much faster, but Lyon remembered Gray's instructions- he would take care of her. Which included making sure she went outside, enjoyed the sunshine and visited the guild once a day. It was almost like babysitting a child, but it was worth it. Just being in her presence and seeing her smile occasionally made it worth every papercut.

She opened up to him. Juvia told him about how it almost used to rain wherever she went and what an impact it had on her life. In return, he talked about his own past, his twisted deeds. It was painful and he was ashamed to recount it, but Juvia seemed to accept everything he said without judgement. That was kind of her.

* * *

On day five, he worked up the courage to ask her why Gray had left. Juvia had actually been trying to fold a paper fan at the time to assist them in the heat, but at that moment she creased it wrong, the result appearing awkward and misshapen. For the first time he saw anger in her features as she scrunched her attempt up into a ball and tossed it at the wall. But when she came to talk, she was calm.

"Gray and Juvia went on a date." Not Gray-sama. Gray.

But Lyon wasn't really paying attention to the finer details. He tore his crane in surprise. "What? Why-"

She sighed, tucking a curl of hair behind her ear and beginning to fiddle with the hem of her dress. "Gray asked her out. And they went on a date."

"So what went wrong?" Lyon asked, anger flaring up in the depths of his mind. What had Gray done to completely ruin it?

"Nothing. The date went perfectly fine. But it wasn't like Juvia had dreamed."

At that moment, Lyon was imagining a hundred and one ways in which to express his rage to Gray. If you were lucky enough to go on a date with a kind, stunning, powerful mage like Juvia, then you went and made sure she had the best date she could have ever hoped for!

"It was a good date, but it didn't feel right. Juvia thought that when she finally had Gray, everything would be perfect. But it felt incomplete. So Juvia asked Bisca if that's what all first dates were like, since Bisca knows most about love. And she asked: 'Are you in love with Gray, or are you in love with love?' And that was it." She looked up, eyes roaming over the three hundred and forty paper cranes hanging from the ceiling and then at the ones piled on the floor, all shapes, sizes, colours and patterns. They had made eight hundred and ninety-seven overall. "All that time, now trivial and stupid."

Lyon tugged on her arm, bringing her back to Earthland. "I don't think it was stupid."

She bit her lip and turned away, trying desperately to hold back tears.

"You were passionate about something. You truly and honestly believed that you loved Gray. That's not stupid. That's a misunderstanding." Lyon said consolingly. He knew all about mistakes.

"Juvia built so much on her love for Gray, which wasn't even real. And now Juvia has no way to go forward, because she's forgotten all of her other goals."

He reached out to take her hand and her head snapped up to look at him, her shock at this contact evident from the widening of her brilliant azure blue eyes.

"Then why is it not raining? Why were you acting so cheerful up until now?"

She shrugged. "Nobody wants rain in August."

"I do."

* * *

The next day, he had to practically wade his way through the streets, such was the force of the rain that had struck suddenly the previous night. Would everyone mutter and complain if they knew about the cause? Lyon almost wanted to lash out when he heard a woman mumble bitterly about 'this goddamn rain'. He was tired enough as it was, having stayed up late to eventually make the final crane.

She was waiting for him outside the by the bridge, sundress abandoned for her old dark blue attire and pink umbrella in hand. Upon noticing him, Juvia splashed her way over to him through the puddles.

"You forgot your umbrella!"

"I don't need one. I'm an ice mage, remember?"

Juvia frowned. "Being immune to the cold doesn't save you from the wet." She stated, shuffling closer and trying awkwardly to hold the umbrella higher so as to shield them both from the downpour. Lyon's more gentlemanly side felt somewhat inclined to increase the distance between them so as to not soak her, but his impulses only wanted to be nearby, to feel her body heat.

She had brought bags filled with cranes, as instructed. "What are we going to do with them?"

"Get rid of them, of course. You first."

She paused, sapphire blue eyes wide with surprise. Her reason was clear- what was he suggesting she do after this? He could sense how dangerously close to tears she was, her eyes swimming behind a watery layer.

Not knowing what else to do, he put an arm around her shoulder to pull her fragile frame in closer, hoping she couldn't notice his furious blush. Juvia's heartbeat quickened before steadying.

She handed the umbrella over to him, opening the first bag and hesitating. In that moment, he doubted whether or not she truly was over Gray, and worry gripped him: had this entire week been a waste? Would Gray come back and see that nothing had changed?

But then she chucked the bag's contents over the side, countless multi-coloured paper cranes drifting down through the wind and into the river as a cry ripped from her throat. It turned out that Lyon didn't need to help her- Juvia had a resolve of her own, and she began dumping her week's work with increasing determination until the raging river had washed them all away.

And then Juvia threw back her head and laughed, sun penetrating the clouds. Lyon watched her, arms reaching out towards the warmth, positively glowing, her smile itself being enough to light up all of Magnolia. He'd loved her since they first met but here, it really struck him that her very existence was a blessing.

When he told her that, she'd blushed before tearing up. He pulled her into a hug as her laughter turned into sobs. It was a pain he knew well- the pain of finally letting go. But she'd got through the worst of it. She had finally finished loving Gray, but it would take time for her to love again.

Lyon kissed the top of her head. He could wait.

* * *

A certain Gray Fullbuster was watching this scene from a safe distance. In spite of himself, he grinned.

"Looks like she finally found the right ice mage."


End file.
